Imagens que Libertam, Gaiolas que Acusam: o Filme Rio e a Arte como Resistência ao Tráfico de Animais – Images that Liberate, Cages that Accuse: The Film Rio and Art as Resistance to Animal Trafficking

This article examines the film Rio (2011), directed by Carlos Saldanha, as an expression of art with an activist and ecological character, focusing on the problem of trafficking in blue macaws, a Brazilian species threatened with extinction. The research aims to understand the work as art that denounces injustice, analyzing how its images and narrative resources highlight the violence associated with the illegal trade in wild animals and point to the educational potential of cinema in raising socio-environmental awareness. With a qualitative, exploratory, and interpretive approach, the study is based on film analysis and critical reading of images. The results indicate that Rio, by articulating vibrant aesthetics, humor, and emotion, symbolically represents the fragility of wildlife, mobilizes affection in diverse audiences, and contributes to environmental education practices in line with the PCN (1997) and BNCC (2017). It is concluded that, despite not delving into the structural causes of animal trafficking, the film reaffirms cinema as a powerful device for denunciation, awareness, and social transformation.